DePaul University Athletics
Lenae Williams Eyes WNBA Draft
4/17/2002 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
CHICAGO - DePaul's Lenae Williams will cap her outstanding collegiate career on Friday morning when the WNBA holds it's 2002 Draft. Williams, one of the nation's top collegiate scorers, is projected to be a late first-round or early second-round pick. The 16-team, four-round draft will take place at the NBA Entertainment studios in Secaucus, N.J.
The Seattle Storm hold the top pick of the draft which ESPN2 will televise the first round live beginning at 10:30 a.m. CST. The final three rounds can be followed at www.wnba.com as the players are selected.
In last weekend's WNBA Pre-Draft camp, Williams ranked in the top five in scoring with 7.2 points per game. In a recent online chat, Charlotte Sting head coach Anne Donovan called Williams one of the sleeper picks in the draft.
"Lenae Williams from DePaul is great," said Donovan. "Not too many people follow the (DePaul) program, but she'll be a great WNBA player."
The sharpshooter finished her career with 330 three-pointers to rank third in NCAA history. She also became just the second player in DePaul women's basketball history with over 2,000 career points. Only Diana Vines (2,504) and Mark Aguirre (2,182) have scored more in a Blue Demon uniform than Williams' 2,046 career points.
Williams will become the fourth Blue Demon to play in the WNBA and follow former standouts Tawona Alhaleem, Latasha Byears and Kim Williams. Byears led the league in field goal percentage last season as member of the 2001 WNBA Champion Los Angeles Sparks. Alhaleem played for the Orlando Miracle last season and Williams played three seasons with the Cleveland Rockers and Utah Starzz.
Lenae and her family will be at Oxford Bank in Naperville to watch the entire draft. Fans and friends of the DePaul women's basketball team are invited to join the players and staff. For more information, contact the DePaul basketball office at (773) 325-7507.
2002 WNBA Draft (ESPN2 - 10:30 a.m. CST)
First Round
1. Seattle
2. Detroit
3. Washington
4. Washington from Indiana
5. Portland
6. Minnesota
7. Orlando
8. Cleveland from Phoenix
9. Charlotte
10. Houston
11. Utah
12. Sacramento
13. Indiana from Phoenix
14. New York
15. Miami from Phoenix
16. Los Angeles
Second Round
17. Indiana from Washington
18. Detroit
19. Seattle
20. Detroit from Indiana
21. Detroit from Portland
22. Detroit from Minnesota
23. Orlando
24. Cleveland from Phoenix
25. Phoenix from Charlotte
26. Houston
27. Utah
28. Seattle from Sacramento
29. Miami
30. Los Angeles from New York
31. Cleveland
32. Los Angeles
For more on the 2002 WNBA Draft, click here.